The newspaper says the firms “are scaling back the maximum bonuses awarded to executives who beat their performance targets,” according to regulatory filings.

“Late last year, the Federal Reserve began contacting banks about their compensation plans, said a person familiar with the phone calls,” The Journal notes. “In regulatory filings, many of the firms cited the Fed as a reason for changes.”

The newspaper reports the seven firms recently cut their maximum performance-based bonuses, according to a study set to be released soon — possibly today — by Compensation Advisory Partners. The study examined practices at 23 of the largest financial-services firms.

Typically, the firms “promise to give top executives a certain number of shares if they meet their targets over several years, and to give them more if they exceed their targets, up to a limit,” The Journal says. But the Federal Reserve “grew concerned that the programs were too sweet for big banks,” and last year it “urged certain financial-services firms to cap bonuses at a lower multiple of the target payouts, usually 125% or 150% instead of 200%.”

PNC did just that, reducing the payout to 125% of the target award. It then approved $2 million for an additional compensation pool to be divided among the affected executives, The Journal says.

Starting points

Incubators, accelerators and co-working spaces long have been attractive places for venture capitalists looking for new, compelling startups. But Forbes.com says the venues now are “proving to be rich in networking opportunities for lawyers, accountants and business advisors.”

These days, “it's possible to find professional services companies walking the corridors of startup breeding grounds and co-working spaces,” according to the website.

The story notes that locally based CBiz Inc. signed a deal last December to “provide fledgling companies at AlleyNYC with free accounting, tax and payroll advice to start relationships that may in the future yield big returns should some of those young firms strike gold.”

(For what it's worth, AlleyNYC, based in New York City, bills itself as “the most badass co-working space on the planet.)

Such deals make sense because young companies “can benefit from professional services that offer, for example, information on negotiating options, organizational charts or how equity comes into play,” according to Forbes.com.

State of the liberal arts

The Columbus Dispatchreports that the rising cost of college “has rekindled the debate about the value of a liberal-arts education,” with governors in at last three states questioning the value of such degrees as history, literature and philosophy.

But several central Ohio college officials tell the newspaper that a liberal-arts education has never been more important as employers complain that graduates lack communication, critical-thinking and problem-solving skills.

“The problems of the 21st century — 9/11, the global economic meltdown, terrorism in Boston are complex and don't come in neat little boxes,” says Victoria McGillin, the provost of Otterbein University, a private liberal-arts college in Westerville.

She tells the newspaper that Otterbein students take classes in the arts, literature, natural and social sciences and religion and philosophy so they are well-rounded. Otterbein also gives students real-world experience; they are encouraged to do volunteer work and undergraduate research, travel abroad and seek internships and other job experiences.

According to the survey, 93% of the 318 business leaders surveyed in January agreed that a “demonstrated capacity to think critically, communicate clearly and solve complex problems” is more important than a job candidate's major, The Dispatch notes.

“The group of liberal-arts schools also announced a compact among more than 100 schools and businesses to ensure that students get the broad knowledge and intellectual skills they need to succeed in jobs,” the newspaper says.

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